Saemangeum Seawall, a construction project considered the grandest in size in Korea's history, was completed on the country's west coast and opened to the public on Apr. 27.
The seawall linking Byeonsanbando (Byeonsan Peninsula) and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province is over 33 kilometers long, and boasts its splendor with the nicknames "Great Wall on the Sea" and "Oceanic Highway."
It encloses a freshwater lake which is 140 times as large as Yeouido, a large island in the Han River in Seoul.
The seawall construction began in 1991, and has since broken various previous records, for example, bringing over 2.3 million workers to the site every year, and mobilizing over 900,000 pieces of heavy equipment including bulldozers, dump trucks and dredging vessels for the project.
The government promotes plans to transform the Saemangeum area into an economic and tourism center of Northeast Asia while subdividing the area into eight smaller blocks for further development.
A total of 28,300 hectares of land area have been secured by the seawall, 1,870 hectares of which will be used for an industrial zone. The government is holding various promotional events to attract domestic and foreign investment to the region.
In the industrial zone, complexes will be built devoted to the advancement of high-end future industries such as new materials, recyclable energy development and aerospace.
Also, an environment-friendly industrial cluster will be established around the zone, which will attract numerous R&D offices and international businesses. The zone is expected to provide the industrial impetus that will lead the economic development of North Jeolla Province and South Korea as a whole.
A separate tourism zone in the Saemangeum region, for which 1.07 trillion won of government funds have been set aside, will include various tourism facilities which will provide opportunities to experience nature and tourist accommodation.
Over 30,000 jobs and 1 trillion won of value-added effect are expected to be created through the tourism business there and golf links and international convention centers will also be in operation in the near future.
The Saemangeum-Gunsan Free Economic Zone office said that 19,780 and 13,798 new jobs will be created for the construction of the tourism zone and its operation, respectively, quoting its analysis.
